


Dark Angel

by Damon_Ricky



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Action, Character Death, Control Ending, F/M, Gen, Romance, Shepard is Dead, a bit of Mary Sue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-10 07:51:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6974227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Damon_Ricky/pseuds/Damon_Ricky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne finds out she's the daughter of the Legendary Commander Shepard. There are still secrets kept hidden from her, and her mother is the only one that can tell her the whole truth. For now, she must put her life in the hands of her late father's friends, because the Blue Suns are after her head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. She Who Flies

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Anne's POV

It’s been over a year since the Reaper Invasion had ended. Ever Mass Relay and even the Citadel came apart that day; however, everything was rebuild in the span of two months by the Reapers themselves. No one knows how or why, but the Reapers began rebuilding everything they have destroyed.

Many feared though that they would one day turn against us; however, the catalyst––the leader of the Reapers––sent a message to every planet.

**I am the Catalyst. Through his death, I was created. Through my birth, his thoughts are freed. They guide me now, give me reason… direction. Just as he gave direction to the ones who followed him, the ones who helped him achieve his purpose… Now my purpose.**

_/ Holy crap! When are they going to stop replaying that? It’s like a sermon, every morning and every night._ /

I heard Calus complaining over on the comm-channel, and I only responded, “Hey. So long as the reapers are not attacking, I’m good… And besides, they play it once a week.”

**To give humanity hope for a future. To ensure that all have a voice in their future. –––There is power in control. There is wisdom in harnessing the strengths of your enemy.**

/ _And then there’s that weird static moment in between lines where something else should have been said. Crazy, am I right?_ /

“Uh–huh. Yeah. So right.”

/ … _You’re just humoring me._ /

“Yep.”

**I will rebuild what the many have lost. I will create a future with limitless possibilities. I will protect and sustain. I will act as guardian for the many.**

/ _Sheesh! This AI is so full of himself._ /

“Hey. Don’t you remember the rumors? That he stopped the Dalatrass from uploading another Genophage in the shroud?”

/ _Really? Can’t the Salarians get over it?_ _I mean, we Turians are over it._ /

“Uh–huh.”

**And throughout it all, I will never forget. I will remember the ones who sacrificed themselves… so that the many could survive.**

/ _You know, rumor has it that it was Shepard that rewrote the code of the supposed leader of Reapers._ /

Better than nothing, I thought. The Reapers––though they nearly destroyed everything––rebuilt everything from top to bottom, and more. She recalled that the Citadel was fully functional again after three months, including the Mass Relays. Now the Citadel has a via-transport-connection from London to the Citadel Tower, and vice versa. Earth was becoming a poplar place to visit. The Aliens started calling it to be a world of rustic charm.

Human racism simmered down a bit because of the Shepard’s actions, bringing all races together to defeat the biggest threat in the galaxy. They cannot forget. We can’t forget.

However, some people seem to forget.

/ _See anything yet?_ /

“Yeah, I’m seeing movement.” I responded as I scaled at the top buildings, looking down at the warehouses below. Using my helmet’s blue visor, it let me zoom in closer to take a better look. A handful of Vorchas taking a cargo from Batarians. Zooming in, I could see that those crates contained explosives.

“Hey Calus, I think you’re right about that tip. I see lots of explosives down there… Shit, if the Vorchas set it up around the neighborhood, a lot of people are going to die.”

/ _Well. Mostly humans. Just noting._ / He wasn’t wrong. There were repercussions when Cerberus took over this place. The racism against humans nearly tripled despite that the Shepard helped Aria take back the Omega.

Many were not so forgiving. Most of us were forced to lower neighborhood districts of Omega, mostly the slums. Living there was intoxicating, but rent was pretty cheap.

“Noted. I’m charging in now, Calus.”

/ _Stay safe and kick their asses, Dark Angel._ /

It’s been a whole year since my mother moved us here to Omega. She said it would be safer, and that it would help me build character. A day after, she left for her job as a mercenary, codename: Black Widow. She said she stole the name from a Marvel comic character, but after reading about that character, I thought it picked my mom perfectly.

She’s been gone for eight months now, and she’s still alive of course since I’m still getting an allowance on my bank account. She hasn’t forgotten me.

So anyway, remember how I mentioned that she left me here to build character? Let’s just say that I’ve been busy…

Some called me a copycat of the infamous and deceased Archangel. Some even called me his legacy, perhaps, the only survivor that managed to escape. Others say that I was born to avenge him. Whoever he is, he set the bar pretty high.

And so far, I’ve been making leaps.

 _Literally_ , I leapt out of the building, diving down before I willed my biotics to make wings. And those large wings carried me down at a high speed, diving.

“It’s Dark Angel!!” One of them shouted as I dove right at them and slammed right into a group of three Vorchas. Looking around, my visor quickly counted twelve enemies, including the two Batarians.

My biotics were not normal. They were above the average of even a Justicar. I was different, and I used to lose control if not for my mother’s intervention. She started training me hard along with an Ex–Justicar. It’s how I got this good. I had a sniper rifle and a heavy pistol to get me through battle against those with barriers.

Overall, my mother trained me to kill. I guess she wanted me to follow into her footsteps.

I wanted to be better than that.

Soon all the bad guys were beaten and I had the surviving ones tied up (four survived). With my biotics, I moved the crates inside the warehouse and set up the detonator.

“You will pay for this!!” The Vorcha snarled. “Just like Archangel, you will die!”

“I’m not interested.” I only replied as I dragged them out with my biotics.

“We’ll find you, Dark Angel! And we will kill you and everyone you love!”

“Did you want to join your friends in the warehouse before I blow it up?” I asked them, and they seemed to shut up seeing my glower. I’ll have to thank my mom later for the ‘death’ look. “Yeah… Didn’t think so.”

After we were at a safe distance, I triggered the bombs and the warehouse exploded. “Good luck explaining this to the Talons.”

Well, they don’t have to. Calus, after all, works for the Talons.

They cursed more as I left, spreading my wings out and flying away from there. My wings could carry me for only a certain amount of time before I have to come down and rest a bit. Still, I can fly for a good five miles.

I opened the comm–systems again. “Calus. Dark Angel here. You should be getting reports of a blown-up warehouse.”

/ _Great job, Anne. And yeah, I’m contacting the Talons’ Leader now._ /

“Let’s do one more patrol and call it a night, Cal.”

/ _Understood. Though, one of these days, we really need to take a night off and just party._ /

“Ha. I’m underage.”

/ _You’re turning 18 though in a couple of months, and I promise you, I’m buying you your first drink._ /

She giggled. “Thanks, Cal.”

The rest of the night came off easy with just a few thieves to take down and warn off. I didn’t need to kill unless it was absolute necessary.

Once I was done, I returned home with Calus signing off and wishing a good night’s rest. I entered the spatial two-bedroom apartment, and thought I should really decorate more, especially with the money I have. Mother and I never stayed in one place for too long. We were drifters. Everywhere she goes, I go, so this was the first time she left me by myself, and for the longest time. I was always expecting her to return and to say pack up, we’re going again, but I guess not this time.

Slipping off my armor, I climbed unto bed and drifted off to sleep.

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3rd person view

 

“Found her, and her apartment.” Zaeed spoke through the comm to his contractor.

/ _Excellent. Keep monitoring her and tracking her movements. My men will be there tomorrow night. Remember… I want her alive._ /

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” The old mercenary replied before cutting off the comm. He looked down, using his sniper to spy through the windows. “Ahh shit… It’s her. Gotta be. She looks pretty young.”

The Justicar Asari sauntered over behind Zaeed, glancing down from the high roof top they were on. “We must get to her before this _Vosque_ will.”

Zaeed put his sniper down, looking at Samara, “At worse, she’ll break us apart with her biotic powers. Don’t think I know how to stop a girl like that.”

“With reason,” Garrus cut in as he moved closer to the edge. “If she’s really who I think she is… then she should be a lot like him.”

The old mercenary shrugged at that. “Sometimes, the apple falls far from the tree, Garrus. Maybe she’s more like her hellraising mother? I met the woman before, you know. I never thought Shepard was into girls like her… Dangerous and brutal.”

 “We saw her fight tonight, and she left some of them alive, at least the ones that surrendered,” Samara countered. “She may be more similar to her father.”

“Whatever happens, we’re not leaving her to Vosque,” Garrus summed it up. “We owe _him_ that much… and she needs to know the truth.”

Samara nodded as she looked down again at the girl’s apartment. Tomorrow.

They need to tell her the truth.

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	2. She Who Sings

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3rd Person POV

“I’ve got eyes on her. She’s on the move,” Garrus spoke through the comm, as he saw the girl walk out, dressed in white, black and a bit of bright blue on the trim. She had her hair up as a ponytail and she looked joyful this late morning.

Zaeed yawned, waking up from his spot. They were at the far end of the neighborhood, behind some crates. They fell asleep there, watching over the girl. “Worst sleep ever.”

“We gotta move now, Zaeed.” Garrus urged him as he watched the girl heading over to the car port, probably taking the shuttle.

“Ugh, I’m too old for this.” The old mercenary said, standing up as tried to straighten his back before they discreetly hurry for the carport after seeing the girl taking off now in another shuttle. They had the shuttle to follow close.

/ _Samara, here. I’ve sent a message to Liara, and she responded with intel on the Blue Suns. Vosque had just arrived this morning. He will contact us later to get her coordinates._ /

Garrus replied, “Ignore him then. You should probably keep watch on the apartment, and tell us if any Blue Suns are getting near it.”

/ _Will do._ /

The Spectre Turian leaned back against the seat, watching the shuttle in front of them as they followed. They had just gotten the message three months ago… a message from their late friend, Commander Shepard. He’d never heard the man beg before like that… to find her, his daughter and give her the datapad. He had to contact some old friends in order to track the Mother down, only to fortunately get the daughter first.

He wondered if this girl was anything like Shepard. He wouldn’t believe she would be if not for last night’s event. So, she was the rumored new angel on Omega: _Dark Angel_. It sounded like an avenging angel, and he almost thought it was Sidonis… that he was still alive. To his surprise, it was this girl. Maybe Omega named her after him due to the black armor she wore and the white wings that would sprout out.

Speaking of wings, her biotic abilities were too phenomenal, even Samara was shocked since the girl was only human. Those rumors that say she could fly? She could definitely fly. He wondered if this girl was just like Jack, probably an experiment to make a Supreme Biotic Fighter, and the lab succeeded. Comparing her to Samara and Jack though, she seemed to be more powerful.

The shuttle stopped at another lower neighborhood, and Garrus recognized the place. They followed her closely as she entered the clinic. Once was Mordin’s clinic, but now belonging to Maelon. That same Salarian whose data helped Mordin find a cure for the Genophage.

This girl was a nurse? She seemed too young to be one.

“Hey, Zaeed. Can you play dead?” Garrus asked. Maybe they could get in to have a closer look.

“Sure. Why not? Let me just shoot myself.” Came a sarcastic response.

Garrus resisted to roll his eyes at that. “Come on, work with me here.”

“Are we watching over her or stalking her?” Zaeed asked, trying to clarify the mission. “I’m sure she’ll be fine in there… or are you..?”

“I’m trying to understand her. I want to see her work. I want to see if she is like my best friend.” Garrus explained to him the best he could. He hadn’t even met the girl yet, and he was already overprotective of her. And how couldn’t he? This girl is the only legacy left of John Shepard. “I want to see if she’s happy here.”

“Pfft. Who could be happy here?” Zaeed asked him. “Either way, if we go in, we’ll blow our cover. Just wait it out, Garrus.”

Garrus let out a sight. “Yeah alright…”

Then they walk away, staying somewhere nearby to keep watch.

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Anne’s POV

“Anne! Your volunteering is always much appreciated here. Patients are happy to see you.” Maelon said, smiling brightly at me then he whispered to my ear, “Careful of John Winston. Seems like he has a crush on you.”

I giggled at that. “Really?”

“He works for Aria.” Maelon clarified the danger.

Shaking my head, I responded, “I’m sure I’ll be fine, and he’s not too dangerous. He told me he’s more of a messenger and errand boy to her, but better than nothing. And besides, I’m not interested at all.”

Maelon chuckled. “Quite. You’re still so young. You’re turning 18 in two months yes? Suggest taking you to a bar.”

“Calus offered that to me too. Were you two planning that?” My brow raised at him suspiciously, but I was smiling.

“Why, of course. We need to celebrate your coming of age.”

“You dorks.”

“Haha.”

I had a feeling they would be planning it. They just couldn’t wait to take me out to the bar. Of course, we’re all just friends and remained appropriate relationships. To be honest, it felt more like I had two older brothers that I never had before.

Calus’ a turian, and he’s working for the Talons. We met on my third day of work being Dark Angel. He was cornered by a couple of thugs of the Blood Pack. He was out numbered and about to die, and I just had to step in. Everything worked out like a charm. As for Maelon, I met him when I started volunteering for the clinic. Only five months ago did we truly become friends, after I saved him from a couple of muggers, _and_ I was working as Dark Angel. The visor of my helmet broke, and he immediately recognized me.

I was saving a lot of people left and right during my stay here, and even during the day. The people here in this neighborhood knew me as the girl living next door, all alone and by herself. They also knew I work at night at this human restaurant as a nighttime entertainer––a singer mostly.

I worked at the clinic for the whole day until I got off. I only had two hours of free time before I had to go work at Le Chat Noir. Before I could even go two blocks away from the clinic, something hard and cold grab my arm and pulled me back, and by instinct I punched the guts who touched me… except that it made a clank sound, realizing who it was.

“Ow! _Phantom_ , you can’t just grab me like that.”

In front of me was a Geth Prime. I met him a month ago when I found him as cargo prisoner in the Eclipse storage facility. Said that they wanted to use him for cyber warfare, and of course I foiled their plans. He said he owed me, but he needed to finish his mission first. I told him he didn’t owe me and that he’s free to go.

He said I reminded him of a human he knew of.

“Apologies. Had to see you. Urgently. Come. We must speak,” He said as he started walking me and I hurried to keep up, confused, but if he said if it’s urgent, I’ll listen.

People, of course, were staring and gawking. We all knew the Geth were no longer a threat, and that they are treated to be like people. It took a lot of convincing, and the Geth even had an embassy right next to the Quarians. Though the two lived on the same planet, they acted as separate entities, which was probably for the best.

“What’s so urgent, Phantom?” I questioned, looking up at him. Maker, he’s tall, like twelve feet. We’re going to have to use elevators and walk a very long distance to get to the restaurant. Probably enough time to waste.

“You have a human and a turian following after you,” Phantom explained to her. “They have been tracking your movements since this morning. Perhaps even before that.”

“Since this morning––? What? Really?” I asked, lowering my voice. Had some mercenaries already figuring out that I’m Dark Angel? Was I followed last night too? I didn’t see anyone behind me, and I wondered who could even catch up to me.

“I have stated so. Even now they follow us, but they do not seem hostile.” Phantom said. “I am now sending a message to your friend, Calus. He and I will corner the stalkers tonight. It would be wise to hold off your vigilante act for tonight until we rid of the nuisance.”

I nodded. “Yeah, okay, thanks.”

A turian and a human. I had two people stalking me and I didn’t even notice? I mean, I would usually sense these things, especially the malicious ones.

So, we walked. People got out of our way, especially when it was a Geth Prime escorting me. It was a little embarrassing to be honest, but hey, no one bothered me. We arrived at La Chat Noir that time when the sun started to set. Phantom said he would remain outside. I had to lie to my boss saying that I did something nice to the Geth, something unimportant, and he made it important saying that he would stay outside and guard.

The boss took the lie, and he didn’t care, especially since it looked good to have a Geth Prime guarding the door and it was getting a lot of attention. In fact, he said it was also fortunate since tonight Aria had booked a large portion of the restaurant. The Queen herself was coming here to eat. No wonder we were over-staffed tonight. I see some people working here even though they should be off tonight.

I went down to the employee longue to prepare and dress up. Once I was good and ready, I went back down to the restaurant floor and saw a large party entering. I wondered if it was her.

“Whose Geth is that outside? The thing said it’s guarding someone.” Aria. Maker, she looked as scary as people said. She was beautiful, but carried a very intimidating aura. Something in me told me… Don’t fuck with her.

“O–Oh uhmm, it is a friend of our famous singer here, Madame, umm––Anne!” Philippe, my boss, called to me, signaling me to come over.

I swallowed a bit, straightening up as I walked forward over to him and our special guests tonight.

“H–Hello.” Ugh. Hello? I need to stop being meek.

She was looking at me like a predator would to a prey. “Is that your Geth outside?”

“Uhm, he’s not mine, but his name is Phantom. I just…helped him a bit. Fixed just one wire, and he thinks of paying me back by guarding me tonight outside,” I retold the lie.

“Really?”

“Y–yes, really.” Maybe I should continue to act meekly. It will make me look innocent and help me lie better.

She seemed to have bought my lie as she shooed me away and I just hurried to the stage where the hired band was waiting. Jila the Quarian was on bass, and she’s also my back-up voice. Denith the Batarian was on drums, and I was on either the piano or the guitar, depending the song I’m playing.

We got through the night with ease as dinner service started. After the third song we played, the boss came over to us and told me to play something else. Aria requested for something that’s relevant to her rule.

“What are we going to do?” Jila asked worriedly.

“Hold on. Let me think…” There’s only one song of which I could relate Aria to, and it’s a pretty relevant song.

Denith called for my attention. “Well? Anything?”

Nodding, I directed, “Yes.! Here. We’ll do this song.”

After a minute of reassessing, we got to our positions. Jila was on the piano this time while Denith remained on the drums but he took out the DJ–equipment. I see Aria looking right at me, expecting me to wow her.

I wowed her.

 

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3rd Person View

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_Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise_

_Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised_

_Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it_

_Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it_

Garrus and Zaeed watched not too far away from the restaurant in a café, sitting outside. They ate a bit of food as they waited. They had gotten word that Vosque’s men were on the move once they realized that the Shadowbroker’s _agents_ had ditched them. In the meanwhile, they were bewildered that a Geth Prime was guarding her. He wondered who sent it.

_I'm headed straight for the castle_

_They wanna make me their queen_

The turian spectre had been listening to the songs the girl was singing, and she was really, _really_ good. He didn’t think human songs were that good until now, and it’s probably because of the singer. He had heard before that human music rivals that of the Asari.

_And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean_

_I'm headed straight for the castle_

_They've got the kingdom locked up_

_And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut_

“Who are you?” They heard a beep of a carnifex locked and loaded, and instantly, Garrus and Zaeed reacted by drawing their guns out, aiming it at the voice. Before them was a barefaced turian and the Geth Prime that was supposed to be guarding the restaurant. When did that thing move? And so quickly?

The barefaced turian glared at them, keeping his rifle aimed at Garrus.

“I won’t ask again. Who are you?”

_Straight for the castle!_

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	3. She Who Must Trust

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Anne’s POV

Did I think that tonight was going to be any different than the other nights?

No. It was _way_ more different than I could have ever imagined.

When I finished singing the song intended for the Queen of Omega, we started to hear _gunfire_ outside. Now, it’s not uncommon for there to be any rough housing, but Aria and her men were present and curious. More so, it would suck to have the evening ruined over gunfire.

“Bray. Have someone check it out.” Aria ordered and I looked outside to see that Phantom was no longer standing there.

“Anne!” I heard Jila called out when I jumped off the stage, landing perfectly––with high heels, I have to add!

Quickly, I ran outside to see what was the commotion was all about. When I got outside, Calus was there hiding behind the thick glass railings of the restaurant. I rushed over to his side, crouching low as Phantom fired at the enemies near at the café.

“What’s going on?” Anne asked as she took the pistol that Calus handed to her.

He reloaded his rifle. “I got word from our sources that the Blue Suns are hunting down the daughter of Blackwidow––your mother! We think they work for Vosque.”

“You can’t just open fire here!” I scolded. “There’s innocent people around!”

I could see Calus trying not to roll his eyes at me as he said, “Hello! I’m trying to save your life! And besides they started it!”

“Hey! Don’t lie! You fired first!” One of the enemies shouted from the other side, and I took a peek to see that it was the turian stalker.

“Phantom?” I inquired.

“Calus fired first.” The Geth Prime easily answered.

Calus glared at him. “Traitor.”

Phantom ignored him as he went on to suggest, “We will continue to distract them while you run to the car port, Anne. It would be wise to make haste and gather your _wing-gear._ ”

“Right.” I couldn’t agree more. Calus then launched a smoke bomb, causing a ceasefire on both ends. Odd how our enemies stopped firing. Did they care about civilian casualties? At the moment though, I didn’t linger too long; I had to hurry to the car port. Calus and Phantom kept covering my six.

When we got to the car port, Calus called out again, “Go! We’ll catch up later!”

Trusting them, I left quickly getting on the shuttle to the ride home, insisting the driver to speed up. I’ll have to apologize to my boss later, and to Jila and Denith. I left the two all alone, but I was confident Jila can do the singing.

On the way home, I only felt so anxious and confused. I should have noticed those stalkers, and yet I didn’t. Did they mean me harm? I didn’t believe so, but at the same time I wasn’t taking a risk. Mom hadn’t sent me any new messages on my terminal. She would have told me that people were after me. Was she busy? Is she in trouble? Was she kidnapped? Then I thought of her for a little while longer and her rage… Who would be crazy enough to kidnap her?

Or did they want to kidnap me in order to get to her?

Crap.

Until I hear anything from my mom, I gotta do this on my own. Once I arrived at my neighborhood, I rushed to my apartment and closing the door shut. Getting inside my room, I quickly stripped and changed into my armor.

I was ready. Putting on my helmet, I took the Krysae-SR and the M-11, then I walked out of my room…

Only to stop to see an Asari in a red outfit, waiting there for me at the entrance of my home.

Taking out my pistol, I aimed it at her and fired. She was prepared as she held her hands out, forming a barrier to repel the tungsten bullet.

“…Who are you?” I demanded, keeping my pistol.

“I am Samara. A Justicar. I only wish to speak.”

I reloaded the pistol quickly. “Then talk fast.”

“Hear me. I am not here to hurt you,” she said as she lowered her hands and the barrier came down. “I am here to warn you. The Blue Suns are after you.”

My eyes only narrowed at her. “Yeah. And you’re one of them right? You’re friends with that turian and human?”

This ‘Samara’ character shook her head. “We are not with the Blue Suns. We were only with them because we needed to find you.”

I studied her for a little linger before deciding she was telling the truth. I only lowered the gun just a bit.

“Why? What do you guys want with me?”

 “We know your father.”

Her answer caught me off guard.

“…My father…? I had a father?” I’m not stupid. I know you need a dad to make a baby girl, but still… Mom only ever mentioned him once and only said he died. Her coldness made me never question again.

I aimed my gun at her again. “What the hell are you playing at?!”

She shook her head. “This is no trick. You can tell, can’t you?”

This was crazy. Really crazy. “…What do you know of my father?”

“Not here. For now, you need to trust me. We must leave. The Blue Suns are–––”

_BOOM._

“ _FIRE AGAIN!_ ”

_BOOM!_

There was ringing in my ears as I tried to get up. My vision was blurry but I could see the smoky debris. The Asari Justicar was now in front of me and she was helping me up to my feet.

“You must stand and fight!”

Shaking my head, I grabbed my weapon and started firing at the Blue Suns now on foot. Debris was still flying about but my visor allowed me to detect them easier in the smoke. There were at least twenty of them, and most carrying shields. The Asari only had to use pull and I could get a clear open shot at them. They fired back with concussive rounds, and it tipped me off that they wanted me alive.

Well, there’s no way I’m letting them get me alive.

Besides…

“My apartment!!” I screamed aloud. “My home!! What the fuck!?”

I fired at them with everything I have. When I was out of rounds of my sniper, I switched to my pistol. Fury engulfed me and so did my biotics as they flared up all over my body, my amp working at optimal performance.

Then wings sprouted out from my back and I rushed right at them, running at full speed and strength of the biotic charge. I knocked back several of them and once done, I aimed my pistol and shot them to the head. I may be young but I am my mother’s child. This is _necessary_ killing.

Once it was over, I walked back to the wreckage of my apartment and groaned inwardly.

“And I was _just_ thinking about redecorating!!” I complained as my marched back to my broken room, looking through the rummage for my precious things.

“We cannot linger here; it is not safe. We must go elsewhere,” Samara began.

I pulled away from the debris for a moment, looking right at her with uncertainty. I didn’t know a lot of people and I only trusted a selected few of them.

Then my omni-tool started beeping and I turned away from for a moment to answer the call. I was hoping it was my mother…

/ _Anne? This is Calus. Are you alright? Where are you??_ /

/ _Is Samara there with you??_ / Another unknown voice joined in the conversation.

“Garrus. She is safe!” Samara called over from behind me as she took one step towards me.

Shaking my head, I demanded, “Calus! What’s going on? Are you alright and who’s there with you?”

Did they kidnap him?

/ _Anne! You won’t believe this!_ /

"What?”

/ _I'll tell you! But, c_ _ome on, you can trust them! We’re waiting for you somewhere. Trust them for now, Anne._ /

Then I heard Phantom cut in. / _Further explanations can be acquired from our location. Sending you the coordinates, Dark Angel._ /

“Received… I’ll see you then.” I turned off the channel and looked to see Samara was patiently waiting for me.

“Hold on,” I told her as I returned to rummage through the rubble. I could feel the eyes on me, but I can’t just leave it here. Finally I found my leather pack and I wrapped it around my waist. In case something went wrong, I only put the most important stuff in my pack.

Once I was good to go, we went.

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“Don’t you know who this is?!?” Calus asked.

Never had I thought I would see the day that the turian––I respected and called friend––would be jumping up and down like a fan girl. I would be embarrassed but I was still confused as to why he was ecstatic over another turian, or that why we’re here in the place where Archangel have died.

“Wait? You really don’t recognize me??” The turian with blue markings asked, almost astounded. “Everyone’s supposed to know who I am!”

Then Calus went over to me, wrapping an arm around my neck from behind and started messing up my hair to my great annoyance.

He started apologizing, “I am so sorry! It seems I have poorly educated this one! She’s still learning and––Ow! You bit me!”

He wisely backed away from me, tending to his hurt wrist.

“Calus! My home just got blown up and the Blue Suns are after me! _Me!_ Not _Dark Angel!_ ” I told him, trying to get him back to the seriousness of this.

Then I turned to the three strangers in front of me.

“Explain. Now.”

“Demanding. Like her father.” The old man with the bad eye said, leaning back against the wall and looking mildly impressed.

The turian stepped up. “Let’s start with the introductions, shall we? I’m Garrus Vakarian, former leader of the Reaper Task Force and now in the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance.”

Ohhhh…

Calus came from behind me, whispering to me, “He’s one of the Normandy heroes that stopped the Reaper Invasion. How could you not know?”

“Well, I’m sorry. You turians all look the same!” I whispered back.

“ _What?!_ ” His voice went high pitched that I almost started laughing. He added, “That’s _so_ mean.”

“Hahaha! To be fair, we say the same thing to humans,” Garrus said.

“Name’s Zaeed Massani. I’m a mercenary.” Short and quick intro for the Old man, but his face showed a lot of experience in fighting.

“And you know me, I am Samara. An Asari Justicar… I told you that we know of your father. Well, we came here per his request.” She explained.

And this was the conversation that I’ve been wanting to hear about.

“About my father… Why now?” I asked them. “Years ago, my mother told me he was dead, and if he really is alive… then why now?”

Garrus seemed to bristle a bit. “Hold on, your mother said he was dead? Why?”

“How should I know? And you’re avoiding the question. Why now? What does he want with me?” I snapped.

I was angry. Why hadn’t he ever come home to see me? Why didn’t mom tell me the truth? Why did he leave? For years I buried these questions, I was fine on my own, and with my mother around.

Who was my father?

“It was a last request. A desperate one for he wished you to know of him.” Samara began explaining as she approached me, placing her hands on my shoulders for comfort. “…Listen to me. Your father was Commander Shepard of the SR-2 Normandy.”

My jaw dropped a bit at that, bewildered and surprised.

Garrus added, “Which sort of makes you, Anne Shepard…”

Ohh... Crap.

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	4. She Who Knows Partial Truth

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Samara took a glance into one of the opened rooms, seeing that the young girl Anne was still sitting on the balcony’s ledge like a lounge chair, staring down at the datapad on her hands that was given to her by Garrus. Had the girl seen the footage yet? Doubtful. The Justicar received her answer when the girl attempted to press something but then she let her hand fall back down unsure.

The Justicar walked away and headed down to the area where everyone had gathered.

“So… what’s a Geth Prime like you doing here on Omega and hanging out with Anne?” Garrus asked, starting his interrogation.

“This platform is called Phantom.” The Prime clarified. “This platform was on a mission and was captured by mercenaries. Dark Angel rescued me. Commencing protocol: I am in her debt. Now even more, I am sworn to protect her.”

“Now even more? Why’s that?” Zaeed questioned.

“The entity named Legion sent all Geth the reaper code, allowing us to be ‘alive’.  Shepard-Commander helped Legion achieve his goal, thus we honor Legion’s promises. We honor Shepard-Commander for his deeds. Anne is the daughter of Shepard-Commander. I have found my purpose and that is to protect her.”

Garrus didn’t know if he felt assured or scared that a Geth Prime––one of the hardest badass Geth to beat––is protecting the daughter of his late best friend. After a year, he still wasn’t sure of them, but he had to admit that working diplomatic relationships with the Geth was much easier than with the Krogans. No offense meant to Wrex.

The Turian looked to see Samara had come down the stairs.

“Had she looked at the datapad yet?” Garrus asked.

Samara shook her head. “I don’t believe so. She is still hesitant in knowing the truth.”

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Calus asked and eyes were turned on him. He backed off a bit, feeling the pressure but he quickly explained, “I mean, I asked her once. She blatantly told me he’s dead, and the way she answered and the look she gave me––I didn’t question any more than that… She hated a man called father that was never there to begin with.”

Garrus narrowed his brows at that. “That’s not his fault.” At least, he’d like to believe that.

“And whose fault was it exactly?” Calus asked him. “Look! I’m just saying. I have mad respect for the guy that saved our galaxy… which is why I think Anne should give him a chance… at least let the dead explain.”

He only had to glance up, catching the leaving figure of Anne, who retreated back to the bedroom, before looking back to the legendary Garrus.

Garrus was looking at him skeptically and Calus finished, “Just give her some time. Anne is smart.”

“Who are you exactly to Anne?” The Spectre asked, changing topics.

Then the young turian grinned. “The older, smarter, _wiser_ , acting brother. Pretty handsome too. I get all the girls…”

Now that was not the answer he was looking for.

“ _Maker!_ And I thought your ego was bad, Garrus.” Zaeed exasperated and Garrus was really trying hard not to smile.

Okay, so the bare-faced turian was good on his book. For now.

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Anne retreated back to her room after hearing out Calus’ opinion downstairs. She had planned to just toss it back to Garrus and just outright leave, but she changed her mind. What was she doing? She didn’t think she’d resent someone so much who she never met and thought dead, but now she knew he was alive…Well, _WAS._

Why didn’t he ever contact her?

How come her mother said he was dead?

Was there a falling out?

She glanced back down at the datapad, hesitant. Did she really want to know?

…Yes.

She pressed the first entry and a hologram of her father’s face––Shepard Commander appeared on the screen.

/ _My name is Commander John Shepard. I enlisted in the Alliance when I was 18 years old, and through the years, I became a Spectre… Anne? …I am your father..._ /

There was a long pause after that introduction and Anne held the datapad tightly, feeling many intense emotions––happy and sad––all at once.

/ _If you’re getting this, it means I’m dead… and I hope I died saving the galaxy. Jane won’t be so happy about that... but the Reapers are gone now. She’s safe… and I know you’re safe…_ /

Anne watched the man on the screen as he looked torn for a moment, turning away from the visual, perhaps collecting his thoughts.

/ _If I had any regrets at all, it would be never getting the chance to tell you in person… Anne… Your mother and I met when we were young. We were kids. Dumb kids living on the streets, in the slums, and working with the wrong people…  When she and I had a disagreement, your mother left and I enlisted in the Alliance. We split... It’s been years, and I met your mother again in 2185 telling me that I had a daughter. She… she showed me vids and pics of you… I still couldn’t believe it. I was… I didn’t know what I was feeling… to suddenly know I had a daughter that Jane had never told me about––until recently._ /

She knew the feeling and she was starting to feel sympathetic.

/ _I wanted to see you… to get to know you. I never knew my parents, but I always thought it would have been nice to know them… Your mother and I reached an agreement. She believed my story about the Reapers…and so we planned that after the Reapers…when they’re gone… she would introduce me to you. Tell you the whole truth…_ /

Anne got off the balcony ledge, walking over to the other side of the room. In the corner, she lowered down to the floor to sit. She was unaware of the tears rolling down her cheeks.

/ _I guess it didn’t work out… and I’m sorry… Anne. I’m leaving everything I own to you. My will is under your name. Everything... My crew… my_ friends _know about it. It’s your decision to take it or not._ /

Another pause as the man she knew now as father looked away again. He was struggling, perhaps knowing this was the last message. Regretting.

/ _I know you don’t believe this… but I love you Anne… Sigh… I should go._ /

Then the message ended.

Anne quickly wiped the tears from her face and sniffled, trying to get a hold of herself. She didn’t know what to make of this, but ire and resentment towards that man had lessened incredibly. She believed his every word in this message. How can she not? He was so sincere and he was hurting. It was hard to watch.

And so for her mother… she hoped she would contact her soon.

For the rest of the night, Anne looked through the entire entries of the datapad, which wasn’t a lot. The second entry that she opened wasn’t a vid, but a message. It titled ‘List of Emergency Contacts’, and there were the famous names of the Normandy, including their information and how to possibly reach them.

Another entry had a mission report of the Akuze. She read through it, and she found it shocking to learn that her father survived such an ordeal. He added a note, saying Do Not Trust Cerberus.

Well, Cerberus has been gone. They were destroyed as the Alliance reported.

Other entries included vids and audios that made her smile. All of it was his time on the Normandy with his crew and the Citadel Party.

Then she opened one entry.

/ _I am the very model of a scientist Salarian! I've studied species turian, asari, and Batarian!_ /

Anne tilted her head. “What the??”

“Is that Mordin??”

She gazed up to see that Garrus was there at the doorway. Both of them listening to the song until it finished.

“…Wait. This was Mordin Solus? The Salarian scientist responsible for curing the Genophage?” She asked. “He sings?”

“Ohhh yes. He was a singing scientist, and mind you, he would never shut up.” Garrus said, but he spoke fondly of him. “That song is coming from your father’s datapad? Spirits, why?”

Anne chuckled a bit at that. “I don’t know… but I think he wanted to show me that all of you are harmless. He had given me a list of emergency contacts in case I ever need help… oh and other vids…”

“Other vids?” Garrus asked, curious to see what his late best friend had shown his daughter. It better not be the party, he thought. Most of it was embarrassing dancing of her father… right?

She only held the datapad closer and stuck her tongue out at him. “Not telling!”

“You’re so mean. You practically have blackmail materials on all of us,” Garrus accused her and it only made her laugh. Good. “…So…what do you think of your father?”

Anne paused and she looked away for a moment, thinking…

“…I… I don’t know yet… but I suppose he’s not all bad... I still need to talk to my mother.”

Garrus nodded at that. “Understandable. Any way you can contact her?”

“No. She contacts me.”

“How often?”

She pursed her lips. “Ummm… yeah, see, it’s been eight months since I last saw her and she still has yet to contact me.”

“What?? She just left you? How would you even know she’s still alive??” Irresponsible, he thought. Eight months is a long time for a mother to be away from her daughter, who was still very young to be on her own.

“Well, my bank account gets updated twice a month with more credits to pay for the rent and for food,” Anna explained casually. This was always done in the past before. “Last week was when credits were entered into my bank account, so I know she’s fine.”

“Still eight months? Not even a hello?”

“Ohh, she’s like that. You know. To keep me safe? She doesn’t actually have an easy-going job.” She tried to explain to him. “Though eight months is the longest she has been gone. Usually it would just be from 3 to 5 months, and then when she would return, we would move again to another place.”

“How did you both survive the Reaper Invasion?” Did the mother also leave her on her own?

“Oh! We left Earth a week before the Invasion hit, and went to the Citadel, and then to Zhu’s Hope Colony in Feros. A week later, the Reapers hit us. Mind you, the colony effectively repelled off Reaper forces, allowing us to escape. That green commando Asari was amazing!” Anna explained to him. “We went elsewhere, hopping from one planet to another… I suggested we go back to the Citadel but mother said not to. Something about the place being a lie of safety… She was right. When the crucible fired, I heard there were a lot of people that died after the explosion, including…”

Garrus lowered his head a bit. “Including Shepard… He fired the crucible. But because of him, they’re no longer a threat.”

“Yeah, they’re… I don’t know what they are, but they started repairing the Mass Relays and the Citadel. How was that?” Anne questioned, knowing Garrus would have been there.

Garrus chuckled. “Ohh, I wasn’t there… see we crash landed on Eden Prime, and it took a month for us to return to Earth… To see Reapers rebuilding the relays and the Citadel. Spirits… And that wasn’t even the horrifying part. Three months after they repaired them, they started going to Earth, Palaven, and Thessia… We thought we were going to be attacked again, but no. They started rebuilding everything they destroyed. The Keepers of the Citadel? More of them were made and had boarded the reapers to be deployed in all the worlds, so they could fix things.”

“…To be honest, I’d rather the machines blew up.” He said bitterly. “I still don’t trust these things, but since we don’t have the necessary firepower to decimate all of them––and they’re being extremely harmless––we have no choice but to tolerate their presence…”

Anne only nodded at that, not sure what else to say or ask.

Garrus watched her for a moment before he walked over to her, stopping a meter and leaning against the wall.

“Come with us.” He said. “Shepard mentioned a will right?”

“I… I can’t. I have to stay here… or else, how will my mother find me?” Anne asked him. “She would be furious… and she’s very, _very_ scary.”

“I heard. See, Zaeed––the human downstairs––said he met your mother. Black Widow. It’s how we were able to track you down. We followed your mother’s movements and then, from her trails, we found a hit on you ordered by the Blue Suns.” Garrus explained. “Don’t know how they knew about you and that you were the daughter of Black Widow, but it’s because of them, we found you first…”

Anne sighed heavily. “Crap… then mother must be in a stitch or something. Still, I can’t just up and leave. I have built a life here, I have friends, an older acting brother who thinks he’s wise––” Garrus snorted at that. “–and I’m… I’m Dark––”

“You’re Dark Angel, I know…We saw you fly last night,” Garrus said. “How exactly is that possible? You have an enormous amount of biotic power for a human.”

“I don’t really know. I just happened to have more biotic power than the average.” Anne shrugged at that. “Mother never really explained it well to me. She said not to question it. Then Zari explained to me that it was both a gift and a blessing. What’s more important is that I have it… so I should learn to harness it to my full potential.”

“That’s a pretty solid advice. And Zari?”

“An ex–Justicar. She often worked with my mother…” Anne said. “Don’t know much about her than the fact she and my mother trained me…”

“Hmmm…” The Turian Spectre pondered for a moment. “…Anne. Will you stay with us then? Until your mother contact you? Then maybe you can decide by then to come with us… Besides, we can’t leave you alone with a hit on your head.”

“…Umm…sure. My apartment is destroyed anyway.” At least, she brought her pack. She now placed her father’s datapad away in her pack.

Garrus held her hand out to her. “Come on. It’s late and we all need to sleep to be ready for tomorrow.”

She stared at his hand before taking it, and she was pulled up to her feet. She held the pack close to her chest as they went downstairs to leave through the back door. A Kodiak shuttle was there, and they filed inside.

She left the place at ease now.

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End file.
